Thursday, June 16, 2016

Balls, Bags, Babies and Blessings

I think knitting has taken over my life!  It's a bad addiction but luckily my OCD doesn't allow me to knit until my chores have been done :) haha... note: only a little bit of this blog post is about knitting

Recently I signed up for a six month subscription of shawl patterns; one being sent each month to my Ravelry account.  There was so much anticipation for the first pattern to be released on June 9th.  I untied my 447 yard skein, put it in a safekeeping place since I could not wind it at the moment, only to come home, pick it up and drop it!  Needless to say, it was a tangled mess! Three hours later, it was wound in a ball.  It got me thinking about a swift and ball winder.  But, they are pricey and do I really  need them?

Instead, I googled ball winder and found out about an unusual item called a  nostepinne.  Then I watched a you tube video and found it I could use a wooden spoon.  I carefully untied my second skein of yarn and started.  It worked great!  You can see my perfectly wound skein of yarn which allows me to pull the yarn from the center in the photo below.

This past week I received such a nice gift in the mail.  I've gotten hooked on reading Life After Money.  Ilona is the very creative lady behind this blog and she is so talented.  She can make something out of nothing!  She recently made up these shopping bags and had a contest on her blog.  I was the lucky winner of one of them.  It's so special that I think I'll use it as a knitting bag.

Speaking of bags, travel fever is taking over our family.  We found we needed some new suitcases and this time we bought super light ones!  With a 50 pound limit per bag, my bag easily gets overweight.  Do you remember the days of 70 pound bags?  Maybe I'm telling you my age...

 My dear daughter is a wonderful Mom to her two children.  But, sometimes I think she forgets that I too raised two children without all the new fangled stuff/ideas that are out there today.  She told me about a blog she read the other day about moms from the 70's.  It perked my curiosity so I found it here.  And, I read it and I really didn't think it was so bad.  No, I didn't smoke, and I didn't make fried bologna sandwiches, but I did use a play pen and swing for the baby.  And, my own childhood summers in the 60's always included red kool aid made with lots of sugar!  And, I never limited the sugar intake with my children.  And, guess what?  They came out just fine.  My, how times have changed.  The other day I was going to give my little grandson a summer drink of sharbat (rose water syrup diluted with water).  He said, "Grandma, I think it has red 40 in it"?  How did he know that?  Sure enough, I read the label and it did!  He drank some milk instead. . .

We had an earthquake last week.  It only registered 5.2 but I felt it!  It's the second one I've experienced since moving to California almost six years ago.  A funny sound woke me up just after 1:00AM.  I popped up in bed and felt the bed swaying to and fro.  I woke up my husband and he told me I was dreaming so I got up, checked the local news on my phone and found nothing. I went back to sleep and the next morning there was the headline showing the 5.2 quake! I'm just thankful it wasn't the big one and that everything was OK.  It seemed surreal. 
Image result for earthquake logo
That's about all that has been happening around here this week.  We're suppose to be in for a heat wave this weekend with highs reaching the 100 degree mark!  I'm not a fan or hot weather but my tomato plants will probably enjoy the heat units.  Have a wonderful weekend and thanks again for stopping by.

With my best wishes,

Pat
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24 comments:

  1. Oh yeah, the modern times! My childhood in 60 was not bad with all the today damned things... and I ride my bike to the bathhouse and all over, noboday had bring me with a car, we have learned indepence!
    By the way: I turn a chair and put the yarn over the legs, then it's easier to wrap.
    Have a nice weekend in shadows

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  2. What a lovely post, Pat! Your grandson sounds like an attentive kid. :)
    Have a happy and safe weekend!

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  3. Wow, he is one super astute child. Sure mine would have realised but not said anything!! Tee hee. I grew up with no sugar limits too and think?!?! hope I have grown up ok. Sounds like a great subscription 6 shawl patterns in 6 months. My kind of ideal Pat. I'm off to look up the nostpinne now...

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  4. How did we all survive the 60's, heaven knows? Great post, glad the 'quake wasn't too scary.

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  5. The difficulty with all the "we did such-and-such in the 60s and we turned out OK" is that not everyone did. Many of us are spending our later years thinking "I wish someone had warned me". Well done to your grandson avoiding potential trouble.

    I've now experienced two earthquakes, though the biggest was a 5. I had no idea what was happening on either occasion!

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  6. A great tip using a wooden spoon, thank you for sharing. We have bought super light luggage too and yes I do remember the 70ibs limit. Have a great weekend.

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  7. I'll have to have a go at winding my wool like that, it looks fairly straightforward - till you start I expect. I hope you don't get any more earthquakes. Great to hear your news. x

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  8. I've enjoyed your varied post and thank you for the links. I shall be browsing them especially the blog about life in the 70s bringing up children. I can relate to that one. We have brightly coloured bottles of undiluted fruit syrup in Italy. Freshly squeezed oranges is probably best when the grandchildren stay. The rose syrup looks inviting, but I quess milk is a better option for your grandson. Hope you don't experience any more earth tremors and you remains cool in your hot weather. Enjoy your knitting.

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  9. I raised my kids in the 60s/70s too...I will have to go read the blog from your link you provided after I publish this comment.

    I was sitting on the piano bench --- years and years ago and playing along, hitting the keys when all of a sudden the floor quivered. That was the ONLY time I experienced an earthquake...and this was in COLORADO!!

    Enjoyed reading you post today.

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  10. That's a funny story about your grandchild. Similar here too. They are very into veggies before anything else. They know their stuff!

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  11. I'll be looking up this nostepinne video, thanks for sharing. I guess every generation has their own ways of raising children and every new generation probably thinks their ways are 'better'. I can't think of another word that conveys exactly what I mean. I try to teach my own children to use common sense, for example when it comes to choosing food, to enjoy in moderation and not to worry overly getting it just right. Have a lovely weekend. x

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  12. Thanks for sharing the info about the nostepinne. Kids! Yesterday and today and the "ways" will be different tomorrow. When I lived on Galveston Island, I was sitting looking out at the swimming pool and noticed the water moving back and forth ... what in the world?! It was the same time as the very big earthquake in Mexico City. I guess the Island was close enough to get a side effect. Ack! The earth does move. ... .... Have a lovely week.

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  13. That's a funny story about your grandchild. It makes me wonder how we all turned out okay with all the 'bad' things we ate/did. I think sometimes the world has gone a little crazy and we cushion our kids from everything but that's another story....

    The luggage limit makes me laugh too. I remember the days when I was allowed to take two suitcases on the plane with me. Now we all squeeze one into the cargo and sometimes just as big a one on the plane to stuff into the overhead box. I don't think there's a weight limit on those ones and sometimes you can tell!

    Have a great week

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  14. Yeah it's a wonder we managed to raise kids without all the info on how to do it correctly. I guess we used common sense.

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  15. Congrats on your win and thank you for introducing us to Life After Money. What a kick! Love that lady.

    I traded earthquakes for tornadoes. Not a fan of either.

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  16. Your handwound ball is so beautiful!! I love my swift and ball winder, but you do need to use them regularly to make them worthwhile purchasing. I am so glad you are enjoying your knitting, crafting is a wonderful thing! Glad you are OK after the earthquake, very scary I am sure. We bought some new suitcases that are really light, they make a massive difference don't they. Thank you for joining Five On Friday, hope you have a great weekend! xx

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  17. That is a wonderful bag, congrats. I felt an earthquake in Michigan once when I was little, I was on my bed and the whole bed shook, but if you were up and walking around you could not feel it.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  18. Lightweight suitcases are really great in these new travel days with weight restrictions. I heard about the earthquake since I have many family members who live in Southern California. Their talking about a "Big One" here in the Pacific Northwest. Hope you have a great weekend.

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  19. Hi Pat! I caught up on your last post and this one and had fun exploring some of the links you shared. Thanks! I admire the beautiful yarn and shawl pattern you are using...such fine work. Congratulations on winning the the neat bag! I had fun exploring some of Ilona's blog. I love having lightweight suitcases on wheels, but wish I had gotten one a bit smaller than I did for my cross country trip two years ago. I sometimes wonder how my children survived my parenting when I compare the standards today to those I used back then :) May you and yours be blessed and not shaken any more! xx

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  20. I'm just the same as you, I have to get all my jobs done on a morning before I allow myself to partake in hobbies, it drives me mad sometimes but also allows me to feel no guilt when I do sit down and indulge. Your wound yarn looks fabulous, I shall have to have a go at that as I've also been looking at winders and swifts recently too but can't justify the expense. Glad the earthquake was only a small one, it must still be scary though.

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  21. How nice on winning the bag! You have a lovely blog.

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  22. I love your new bags! Too cute. I am totally the mom who does not read the labels. I am sure my son will be just fine. As a chemist, I am not too scared of chemicals. :) I hope you enjoy your new bags with lots of travel. I also am glad the earth quake was a small one and you are okay!!!!

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  23. Scary stuff with the earthquake! lovely bag defo nice for your knitting x

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  24. You did great winding your ball. Love the idea of using a wooden spoon handle.. although I have a system using my index finger to start and holding the center out while I wind.. I actually like the looks of a handwound ball way better than those done on a ball winder. Glad the earthquake wasn't that bad. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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